Valvano Paid Him at Iona, Ex-NBA Center Alleges

Former NBA center Jeff Ruland said he took unspecified amounts of money from Jim Valvano while the North Carolina State coach was at Iona, the Philadelphia Daily News reported today.

Valvano, who left Iona for N.C. State in 1980, denied Ruland’s allegation through attorney Art Kaminsky, who also said an NCAA investigation found no wrongdoing at Iona.

“Jim doesn’t want to get into a public debate over this,” Kaminsky told the paper. “He doesn’t want this to Ping-Pong back and forth.”

Ruland, a two-time All-Star with Washington, said, “Greenbacks changed hands.”

“I took money from Valvano,” the newspaper quoted Ruland as saying.

Asked if he accepted money from Valvano while being recruited or while playing at Iona, Ruland said, “Both of those. That’s enough. That’s all I want to say.”

Ruland said the matter wasn’t “about a lot of money,” but he would not specify the amount or say how frequently it changed hands.

“I don’t know anything about it,” Kaminsky said. “If that’s what he wants to say, fine.”

Ruland’s NBA career ended after a knee injury limited his play to five games with the Philadelphia 76ers in 1986-87.